In August I replaced the factory All Season tires on my year old CX-5 Touring 2.5L AWD. I bought a set of Yokohama Geolandar AT/S All Terrain tires. Within a few days I bought a fifth full size tire from Ebay and mounted a fifth Geolandar ATS on it. I was ready to go have some adventures in the mountains, so for the next five weeks, I went do a different place.
Overall, I'm satisfied and proud of what my CX-5 can do and the ease and comfort that it provided me. But in the end I learned what it can't do, too. (More below)
Taking a break on Magnolia Road.
I started out with some exploration on Rollins Pass East. This is a high-altitude former railroad pass from one side of the Rocky mountains to another. Iit's graded very slightly, but it is a rough dirt and gravel road with a lot of small to medium size rocks jutting up from the road. As long as I drove slowly and carefully, the CX-5 could handle this road relatively easily. Many obstacles could be driven over using the CX-5's ground clearance to avoid them. I carefully positioned the tires and rode over rocks in other cases. Never heard anything metal under the car get pinged once.
Near the first mile of Rollins pass East.
Starting the gradual ascent on Rollins Pass. Overlooking a valley below.
Towards the end of the drivable portion of Rollins Pass East, this was carved out a century ago for a rail line.
Thirty foot long mud puddle that I wanted to go through but didn't for fear of hidden rocks that could have done serious damage. There is another mud puddle nearby, but dry, and I pulled about fifteen rocks from it to main a cairn and save someone else from damage. You can find pictures of people enjoying this mud puddle on YouTube. It's deep.
Parked here at 11,600 feet. The last half mile or so is off limits to cars, so you have to hike it.
View from above Rollins Tunnel. This is the reward at the end of the road.
The next weekend was Magnolia road, a trail road that winds through woods with some light ascent and descent. Again, as long as I drove cautiously and planned out how to get through areas with large rocks and loose rubble, the CX-5 did fine. On this road I encountered a steep descent through the woods and figured I couldn't do it. I got out to survey it on foot and a passerby suggested that I could do it.. so I I tried and to my relief, it was easy for the CX-5.
All of these roads look a lot scarier in person. This shows a descent with a pretty big rock on the right. A lot of the depth and curves of the side of the road just don't come out in 2D pictures.
This actuall drops about 20-25 feet pretty rapidly. The combination of descent and uneven surface made me nervous.
Really nice woods at the bottom of that descent made it worth it. Maybe in the spring I will try driving UP that hill.
The next weekend I took the CX-5 to the top of Mt. Evans, at 14,000+ feet. It was nice to drive a scenic route on pavement again and there was nothing about these All Terrain tires that made me uncomfortable. I did notice them on my first few days when they were new, but by this point I was getting used to them.
NewBleu sitting in the parking lot at 14,000 feet.
On my final weekend, I took the most demanding road I've been on yet: Mammoth Gulch + Kingston Peak. I was pretty confident in my driving abilities and the nature of the CX-5, so I explored several rocky side roads along this route with ease. Towards the end of this road, I got into some areas that were exteremely challenging. Multiple times i had to stop, get out and survey large rock obstacles in the road, make a plan and then attempt to get around or over them. I got over every challenge during the first 2/3 of the road and kept going.
One of many really scenic places to stop along these roads. You might notice I didn't wash it after playing on the edges of the mud puddle a week earlier. Why bother?
A more adventurous side road on Mammoth Gulch. You can see a pretty sharp incline near the front driver's side tire. I went back and was just barely able to drive up this without scraping the nose.
Big round rocks I don't mind, but the sharp pointy ones are why I bought a spare tire.
Mammoth Gulch road, part of Kingston Pass. Lots of loose rubble that prevents you from going fast and likes to slide around a bit.
I'm starting a portion of the final 2-3 miles of my trip and I've just been through about a half mile of really rough terrain. I'm starting to doubt whether I should or want to continue since it's really windy, cold and I'm getting tired. If I damage the CX-5, I've gotta do a several mile hike back to a main road.
I decided to walk ahead and survey how bad things are. Trust me, this road looks much worse in real life. Here you can see a really large rock on the center right side of the frame. I had to stop in front of these regularly and figure out a combination of driving around it, driving one side over it, etc. Somehow I got lucky and made it through.
Final curve before. I stopped taking pictures after this.
On the final 1/4 mile to the peak, the CX-5 finally met its match. The road is a single lane incline made of very rocky terrain with loose rubble and a downhill slope to the left and a dirt embankment to the right. I had overcome so much that I decided to put fear aside an attempt to complete this final push. I made it a couple hundred feet up, crawling up and over large rocks before meeting one rock that jutted up about 6-8 inches above the road and was about 3-4 week wide. I finally decided, on a very cold, very windy Sunday evening at 5PM with the sun going down that attempting to do so and failing could be very bad for me and my CX-5.
So I retreated. I tried to do a 3-to-15 point turn, but the CX-5 was just too long. I even pushed the back end into the embankment, filling the tow hitch with dirt, but I didn't have enough room. I coudln't go forward, I couldn't turn around, so the only option left was to back down. I pretty much accepted that since this was very difficult to do going forward, I would probably damange the car retreating but I had no choice.
Fortunately, the backup camera, while not designed for these kind of conditions, actually helped greatly. I couldn't see rocks well enough to crawl down in reverse as well as I did going forward, but i was able to keep the car on the road and keep my composure.
When I finally got to a large open area at the end of this final stretch, I was greatly relieved, but extremely spooked. If I wasn't lucky, I would have gotten the CX-5 stuck sideways on this road for the night, or damaged a critical part underneath that prevented the car from being drivable. Both would have meant leaving it there and hiking out in darkness. Neither happened and I am very grateful for it. At that point I just wanted to go home and be safe, so I turned back and drove back a lot faster than I should have. The very challenging section I'd just gotten through was hard to go through again, but this time I knew I could make it. Once I got back to dirt roads with small to medium rocks -- the conditions that challenged me four weeks earlier -- I was comfortably driving over them listening to my favorite radio shows.
Sorry, no pictures of this, I was too spooked.
That last weekend of almost getting stuck or damaging the CX-5 scared me away and I haven't been back. I will be back, but I need some time to recognize that while the CX-5 can go many places a Jeep can, it's not a Jeep. More ground clearance and a locking differential would have allowed me to overcome that last obstacle, but I'm glad I didn't try with the CX-5.
We get snow tonight in the mountains, which means I'll take the ATS tires off and put the Nokian Hakkapelleta snow tires back on. More adventures in the spring when its nice and muddy.
For those interested in detailed descriptions and pictures of where I went:
Weekend 1 & 2: Rollins Pass East http://www.traildamage.com/trails/index.php?id=19
Weekend 3: West Magnolia http://www.traildamage.com/trails/index.php?id=211
Weekend 4: Mt. Evans, paved road to 14,000 feet.
Weekend 4: Kingston Peak http://www.traildamage.com/trails/index.php?id=14
Overall, I'm satisfied and proud of what my CX-5 can do and the ease and comfort that it provided me. But in the end I learned what it can't do, too. (More below)
Taking a break on Magnolia Road.
I started out with some exploration on Rollins Pass East. This is a high-altitude former railroad pass from one side of the Rocky mountains to another. Iit's graded very slightly, but it is a rough dirt and gravel road with a lot of small to medium size rocks jutting up from the road. As long as I drove slowly and carefully, the CX-5 could handle this road relatively easily. Many obstacles could be driven over using the CX-5's ground clearance to avoid them. I carefully positioned the tires and rode over rocks in other cases. Never heard anything metal under the car get pinged once.
Near the first mile of Rollins pass East.
Starting the gradual ascent on Rollins Pass. Overlooking a valley below.
Towards the end of the drivable portion of Rollins Pass East, this was carved out a century ago for a rail line.
Thirty foot long mud puddle that I wanted to go through but didn't for fear of hidden rocks that could have done serious damage. There is another mud puddle nearby, but dry, and I pulled about fifteen rocks from it to main a cairn and save someone else from damage. You can find pictures of people enjoying this mud puddle on YouTube. It's deep.
Parked here at 11,600 feet. The last half mile or so is off limits to cars, so you have to hike it.
View from above Rollins Tunnel. This is the reward at the end of the road.
The next weekend was Magnolia road, a trail road that winds through woods with some light ascent and descent. Again, as long as I drove cautiously and planned out how to get through areas with large rocks and loose rubble, the CX-5 did fine. On this road I encountered a steep descent through the woods and figured I couldn't do it. I got out to survey it on foot and a passerby suggested that I could do it.. so I I tried and to my relief, it was easy for the CX-5.
All of these roads look a lot scarier in person. This shows a descent with a pretty big rock on the right. A lot of the depth and curves of the side of the road just don't come out in 2D pictures.
This actuall drops about 20-25 feet pretty rapidly. The combination of descent and uneven surface made me nervous.
Really nice woods at the bottom of that descent made it worth it. Maybe in the spring I will try driving UP that hill.
The next weekend I took the CX-5 to the top of Mt. Evans, at 14,000+ feet. It was nice to drive a scenic route on pavement again and there was nothing about these All Terrain tires that made me uncomfortable. I did notice them on my first few days when they were new, but by this point I was getting used to them.
NewBleu sitting in the parking lot at 14,000 feet.
On my final weekend, I took the most demanding road I've been on yet: Mammoth Gulch + Kingston Peak. I was pretty confident in my driving abilities and the nature of the CX-5, so I explored several rocky side roads along this route with ease. Towards the end of this road, I got into some areas that were exteremely challenging. Multiple times i had to stop, get out and survey large rock obstacles in the road, make a plan and then attempt to get around or over them. I got over every challenge during the first 2/3 of the road and kept going.
One of many really scenic places to stop along these roads. You might notice I didn't wash it after playing on the edges of the mud puddle a week earlier. Why bother?
A more adventurous side road on Mammoth Gulch. You can see a pretty sharp incline near the front driver's side tire. I went back and was just barely able to drive up this without scraping the nose.
Big round rocks I don't mind, but the sharp pointy ones are why I bought a spare tire.
Mammoth Gulch road, part of Kingston Pass. Lots of loose rubble that prevents you from going fast and likes to slide around a bit.
I'm starting a portion of the final 2-3 miles of my trip and I've just been through about a half mile of really rough terrain. I'm starting to doubt whether I should or want to continue since it's really windy, cold and I'm getting tired. If I damage the CX-5, I've gotta do a several mile hike back to a main road.
I decided to walk ahead and survey how bad things are. Trust me, this road looks much worse in real life. Here you can see a really large rock on the center right side of the frame. I had to stop in front of these regularly and figure out a combination of driving around it, driving one side over it, etc. Somehow I got lucky and made it through.
Final curve before. I stopped taking pictures after this.
On the final 1/4 mile to the peak, the CX-5 finally met its match. The road is a single lane incline made of very rocky terrain with loose rubble and a downhill slope to the left and a dirt embankment to the right. I had overcome so much that I decided to put fear aside an attempt to complete this final push. I made it a couple hundred feet up, crawling up and over large rocks before meeting one rock that jutted up about 6-8 inches above the road and was about 3-4 week wide. I finally decided, on a very cold, very windy Sunday evening at 5PM with the sun going down that attempting to do so and failing could be very bad for me and my CX-5.
So I retreated. I tried to do a 3-to-15 point turn, but the CX-5 was just too long. I even pushed the back end into the embankment, filling the tow hitch with dirt, but I didn't have enough room. I coudln't go forward, I couldn't turn around, so the only option left was to back down. I pretty much accepted that since this was very difficult to do going forward, I would probably damange the car retreating but I had no choice.
Fortunately, the backup camera, while not designed for these kind of conditions, actually helped greatly. I couldn't see rocks well enough to crawl down in reverse as well as I did going forward, but i was able to keep the car on the road and keep my composure.
When I finally got to a large open area at the end of this final stretch, I was greatly relieved, but extremely spooked. If I wasn't lucky, I would have gotten the CX-5 stuck sideways on this road for the night, or damaged a critical part underneath that prevented the car from being drivable. Both would have meant leaving it there and hiking out in darkness. Neither happened and I am very grateful for it. At that point I just wanted to go home and be safe, so I turned back and drove back a lot faster than I should have. The very challenging section I'd just gotten through was hard to go through again, but this time I knew I could make it. Once I got back to dirt roads with small to medium rocks -- the conditions that challenged me four weeks earlier -- I was comfortably driving over them listening to my favorite radio shows.
Sorry, no pictures of this, I was too spooked.
That last weekend of almost getting stuck or damaging the CX-5 scared me away and I haven't been back. I will be back, but I need some time to recognize that while the CX-5 can go many places a Jeep can, it's not a Jeep. More ground clearance and a locking differential would have allowed me to overcome that last obstacle, but I'm glad I didn't try with the CX-5.
We get snow tonight in the mountains, which means I'll take the ATS tires off and put the Nokian Hakkapelleta snow tires back on. More adventures in the spring when its nice and muddy.
For those interested in detailed descriptions and pictures of where I went:
Weekend 1 & 2: Rollins Pass East http://www.traildamage.com/trails/index.php?id=19
Weekend 3: West Magnolia http://www.traildamage.com/trails/index.php?id=211
Weekend 4: Mt. Evans, paved road to 14,000 feet.
Weekend 4: Kingston Peak http://www.traildamage.com/trails/index.php?id=14
I think that part of the trick with the more capable Jeep Wrangler is driving in a group and using a winch to pull each other out.
